I Beat The Bullies
by homesweethomicide13
Summary: There has to be a reason why Barda hates showing emotion, a reason why he hides everything away, and a reason for becoming a palace guard. Sharn decides to tell Lief and Jasmine that reason.


**Title:** I Beat The Bullies  
**Author:** homesweethomicide13  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing:** None  
**Warning:** A young kid getting beaten up? XD  
**Disclaimer:** Yeah, we all know I don't own DQ. I only own Leon, Julian (Jule) and Darsius.  
**Summary:** There has to be a reason why Barda hates showing emotion, a reason why he hides everything away, and a reason for becoming a palace guard. Sharn decides to tell Lief and Jasmine that reason.

_**Author's Note:**__ This was requested by a friend of mine who always thought Barda got bullied when he was younger, and this turned him into a sharp, tough man._

I Beat The Bullies

A ten-year-old boy found himself pinned against the wall that ran the entire length of the palace grounds. The stone was rough on his bare arms and hard on his back. But the fourteen-year-old boy in front of him was not letting go anytime soon. Behind him were two more boys of the same age, sneering at him menacingly.

"Now, are you gonna do what we told you to do, or do I have to make you?" The leader snarled, his hand clenching tighter in the younger boy's shirt. "Answer me!"

"Hey, Leon, let up a little. Any noticeable marks will be trouble for us." One of his cronies said quickly.

"Shut up Jule. I'll do what I want with him." The one called Jule went to respond, but Leon sent him a glare that shut him up quite nicely. The other guy – who had chosen to remain silent – merely gave Jule an emotionless shrug. "So, what'll it be?"

"Leave me alone." The younger boy managed to say. Leon scowled and shoved him further into the wall.

"That's not what I wanted you to say, brat." His free hand curled into a fist and his arm reared back, ready to strike. The boy's eyes widened and he tried to defend himself as Leon's fist crashed into his stomach. He bent double, gasping for breath, but Leon shoved him upright again. "You wanna try again?"

"Leon! The kid's only ten!" Jule hissed. Leon ignored him. When the boy didn't answer, he hit him again, this time in the face.

"Please, just leave me alone." The young boy whimpered. Leon laughed harshly and hit him again.

"Leon!" Jule hissed again. This time Leon turned to him.

"It's not my problem if the baby can't fight back. It's not my fault he's a coward." He turned back to the boy, who was holding his face in one hand, his whole body trembling. "Hah. You gonna run home crying to your momma, just like you always do?" He began to shake more. "And where's daddy to protect you, eh? He ran away and left you didn't he? Bet he couldn't bear to have such a cowardly son."

"Shut up!" The boy yelled suddenly. His fists were clenched and he was frowning furiously.

"Why, it's true. I wouldn't be surprised if your momma doesn't love you. Who would?" Leon sneered at him, and found – to his personal delight – that the boy's eyes were filling with tears. "Aww, look at that, boys. The little baby is crying." Sure enough, the tears were now streaming down his face. "I'll give you something to cry about." Leon full-on attacked him, hitting and kicking him whenever possible. When he collapsed into a heap on the floor, he laughed. Jule sighed and looked away. "You're pathetic." He raised his fist to take another strike, but found his wrist encased by a hand that was far stronger than his. He turned to look at the silent boy. "Let me go, Darsius." He merely shook his head. "Fine. Let's leave him. You better not tell anyone I did this, or I'll come back." He began to walk away, and then turned back. "And next time, I'll leave these two behind." Laughing, he walked off with Jule and Darsius in tow. "Just remember Barda, you're pathetic!"

Barda slumped against the wall, pain shooting through every inch of his body. Blood was pouring from his nose, covering his hands and his clothes. His tears mingled with the blood. How his father would laugh at him. He couldn't even defend himself. What Leon had said was true – he was a coward and a baby. His father wouldn't have broken down into tears, and he wouldn't have let himself get beaten up. He was nothing but a coward. A pathetic coward.

He pulled himself up off the floor and limped towards the palace doors. He knew he should have listened when his mother had warned him about going outside when it was dark. He stumbled through the doors and began making his slow way home. He had barely walked a meter when he suddenly felt dizzy. Just as he hit the floor, a familiar palace guard turned the corner and saw him.

"Barda?" He ran to the collapsed boy's side and stared in shock at him. He was out cold, knocked out from the pain he must have been feeling. The guard sighed. This boy was only ten – the same age as his son. The two of them were friends, and he always saw Barda as a nice young boy, always smiling. He couldn't understand who could possibly want to hurt him. He scooped the boy into his arms and carried him home. He knew his mother would be devastated to see him like this, but home was the best place for him. He knocked upon the door to his home and his mother opened it, obviously expecting him home. When she saw her son unconscious in the guard's arms, her hands flew to her mouth and she gasped in shock. "I found him, Min. Someone's given him a good beating, by the looks of things."

"Oh my… my poor boy… who would do such a thing? He's never hurt anyone!" She took him from the guard and cradled him close. "Thank you, so much…" The guard smiled and bowed before resuming his patrolling duty. Min closed the door gently and walked over to the sofa, setting Barda down softly. She knelt beside him and stroked his chin-length black hair soothingly. After a while, Barda's eyelids fluttered and he opened his eyes. "Barda! You're awake!" She cried. She helped him sit up, and then sat beside him. "Sweetheart, what happened?" Seeing her face, he instantly broke down into tears. She pulled him into her arms as gently as she could and ran her hand up and down his back. "Shh, sweetheart. It's okay, I'm here now." He sniffled for a moment and then pulled back from her.

"I should have listened to you, mother. I shouldn't have gone out in the dark." He mumbled sadly. "I ran into three boys and one of them…"

"He did this to you?" Barda nodded. "Oh sweetheart…" She cleaned him up, vowing to find out who these three boys were. If they thought they were going to hurt her boy and just walk away, they were wrong. Barda's father may not be around, but there were plenty of his old friends that looked upon Barda as their own boy, and none of them would be happy that someone had hurt him. Just as she cleaned off the last of the blood from his hands, Barda sighed.

"Mother?"

"Yes sweetheart?" He fought to keep his voice even.

"You do love me, don't you?" She stopped her work and gazed up at him in surprise. She folded her hands around his and pulled him close to her.

"Of course I do, sweetheart! You're my little boy, and I'll always love you!" She brushed back the hair from his face and smiled. "Whatever gave you the idea I didn't?"

"The boy who did this…" Min cut him off.

"Don't you dare listen to him! You hear me? Whatever he said, it's not true sweetheart. You're a brave boy and I love you, don't let anyone tell you any different."

_Six years later…_

Three young men sat with their backs against the bordering wall, enjoying the fresh night air. A cigarette was dangling delicately from the lips of the man in the middle, his eyes closed as he inhaled. The man on his left mingled with the darkness, whereas the man on the right was a sharp contrast to it. He had shockingly white hair and luminous green eyes, whereas the other guy had black hair and increasingly dark brown eyes. The guy in the middle was somewhere in between. It was the light guy that first noticed they weren't alone.

"Hey, guys… there's someone standing by that tree over there." He whispered. His two friends turned and looked, and indeed, there was someone standing beneath the bows of a tree. He was dressed in dark clothing, and his face was extremely shadowed. The dark guy's eyes widened slightly, almost in recognition, but he said nothing. The middle guy merely lifted an eyebrow.

"So what? We're not the only ones who like to come here at night. He's probably just chilling." He shrugged, quickly forgetting about him. However, the shadowed guy walked over to them, and stood with the light behind him, so his entire face was hidden by shadow.

"Julian. Leon. Darsius." He murmured in a rich, deep voice. Julian's green eyes widened. Darsius's dark brown eyes narrowed. And Leon stood up, the cigarette perched neatly between his lips.

"Look buddy, I don't care how you know our names, but we've done nothing to you, so just back off okay?" He snarled. From his new position, he could see the guy's face. He had long dark hair, almost to his shoulders, and deep, ocean blue eyes. There was a menacing smile on his face, and it scared Leon.

"That's where you're wrong, Leon. You have done something to me. It happened six years ago, right here actually. You may remember a certain ten-year-old boy… you called him a coward, a baby… pathetic." The guy's fists clenched tightly. "You mocked me because my father was taken from my mother and me. You attacked me, even though I had done nothing to you. You may remember my name, Leon."

"Barda?" Leon's blood ran cold.

"You do remember. How touching." Before Leon could react, a fist had appeared from the darkness and crashed into his jaw, knocking him down. And then Barda was over him, repeating his actions from six years ago. Julian jumped up and went to help Leon, but Darsius stopped him. Julian hadn't even seen him stand up.

"Don't. He deserves it." It was rare for Darsius to speak, but when he did, his words were so powerful that everyone listened. Even Barda, overcome by rage and revenge, heard his words, and agreed. When he finally ceased his attack on Leon, he stood and wiped the blood from his face.

"I did a dumb thing by stooping to your level, but it's what my father would have done. He wouldn't have stopped though. Feel lucky. I have more decency than my father. I may be his son, but I'm not him. I'm also not weak, or pathetic." He turned to walk away, stopped, and turned back. "And I'm definitely no coward."

When he walked away, Barda smiled. He'd done it. The six years of training and work as a palace guard hadn't been for nothing. He'd beaten the bullies.

_The present day…_

"So Barda used to get bullied?" Lief asked in amazement. He couldn't believe someone would even _dare_ to pick on Barda.

"You must remember Lief, that Barda wasn't the same back then. Those bullies, and the hardship he's faced since the Shadow Lord invaded, have made him into the man you see now." Sharn said with a slight smile. "But don't speak of this to him. It might bring up some bad memories for him." Jasmine nodded. They'd asked Sharn because they knew asking Barda would have been in vain. Sharn knew more about Barda than anyone.

Besides, Barda would have probably denied it ever happened. Men were like that these days. So full of pride.


End file.
